Purrhaps
by PandaDoll1997
Summary: While traveling through dream bubbles, one can only hope to find who they're looking for. Or the next best thing. Doomed timeline shippings.
1. Chapter 1

**Haha, no, I don't ship them. I just wondered what would happen if they met.~**

**Also, this is my own take on the dream bubbles and the troll-lusus relationships. If you're going to get picky about it, then just save us both the trouble and don't read it.  
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The sky shimmered before changing from a deep blue to a pale yellow. I looked around. The flat, grassy fields I had been walking on changed to rolling hills of white. Huge teapots and teacups replaced the huge, jagged rocks that I had grown accustomed to. A green waterfall ran over the peaks of mountains in the distance, possibly the source of the river that ran in front of me. I knelt down and took a handful of the soil. What I had thought to be sand was actually thousands of sugar cubes coating the hills. Scowling, I tossed them down the slope. They bounced away from me and plopped into the river. They slowly dissolved. Pulling my hood up, I scrambled down the slope and sloshed across the green river. It was surprisingly warm. I continued to walk.

I don't remember how long I have been walking. Pedigrees, seasons, sweeps- none of that matters to me anymore. None of it matters here. Silly things like time are held on to for a while before being tossed aside and forgotten completely. I've forgotten a lot of things since getting here, wherever here is. Like where I was going, or why I was still going.

I think I can remember why I was going, but it's just a speculation. I think I'm still looking for her. She must be here by now too. Hope used to flare in my chest when I entered a new bubble, because part of me thought that I could be that much closer to finding her. Now, hope just kind of clicks repeatedly like a burner that wants to light but there's nothing to keep it going. I can't remember a whole lot anymore, but I can remember her. I only can remember her.

The ground beneath my feet had changed from shifty sugar cubes to more solid ground. I looked up to find a cave yawning before me. Remains of shattered teacups were everywhere. I looked around before going in. The only suggestion that there was life inside the cave was a trail of huge, sugar-laced paw prints. They appeared to be old though, as if they entered but never exited. There was something ominous about that. Against my better judgment, I went inside anyway.

The cave was dark and smelled like the earth; much like the one I knew when I was young. The path dipped downward, like I was still traveling downhill, which I probably was. The path underfoot was slick. Keeping my hand on the wall, I stumbled through the darkness. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going, but I when do I ever? I could sense other passages branching off of this one, meaning I there was little chance I'd stick to the right trail to get out of here again. For some reason, this didn't really bother me though. Lost in thought, my knee met something sharp; possibly a rock or another broken teacup. Spitting curses, I lost my footing and tumbled down the slope. Cursing the mother grub that bore me, I picked myself up. My body hurt but I didn't think it was anything serious. I took two steps before I gasped at what I had nearly run into.

Chalk was scattered on the ground, along with pools of blood and more water from that river. The wall in front of me was covered in drawings, drawn either with the chalk or blood. My pulse quickened when I realized I could identify them. They seemed a little off from what I remembered, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I traced my fingers over the drawing that was Arenea. It had been such a long time since I ran into her last. She was watching the Alpha kids when I saw her, but not like I gave a shit at the time. I wonder who drew these here, I thought. I already had an answer though. It was she. I knew it was. She loved to draw; she was always drawing on things. I smiled when I found a drawing of her. Even scrawled on the rough, red clay wall with green chalk, she was still beautiful. Something slid down my face. I clamped my eyes shut and wiped up the single tear with my sleeve.

I didn't cry when I got here. I never mourned my own death. I felt like I had done what I needed to and I could leave. I didn't even cry when the jade-blood was killed. She had done so much for me, but I couldn't bring myself to cry. I thought that she would be in a better place here, away from the harsh caste system and all the death. I never wept for them. But when she died... I think I wept for days. Of course, she died sweeps after I did, and to a natural death, but to think that she would have suffered all that time...

I probably would have realized my situation if I had not been moping over things I could have never changed. No matter now, I guess. Something huge landed in the middle of my back and sent me sprawling. I rolled over to see the face of a large cat, white as the landscape and not at all as sweet. It jumped and landed on top of me, a growl rumbling in its throat. I gasped as long claws dug into my shoulder, red blood spilling out and staining its claws. It opened its two mouths and roared at me. This is it, I thought. Here I go, double-ghost time. I heard something shatter and rapid footsteps.

"No!" someone yelped. "Off, down!"

The weight was lifted off of me and the growling stopped. Someone shooshed the cat and hurried over to me. I sat up. She stopped and stared at me, as if she saw a ghost. Wait, I guess she did. After a moment of disbelieving silence she was able to spit out what she had meant to say.

"K-Karkitty?"


	2. Chapter 2

I swallowed dryly and stood up. Her mouth kind of hung open for a minute before she shut it again. She kept opening and closing it like she wanted to say something but couldn't summon the words. I turned away from her and focused my attention on anything other than her.

"I, uh…" I faltered. "I'm not who you think I am…"

"Well I figured as much," she muttered. A little louder, she added: "Well then, who are you?"

"I… I'm-"

A grunt from the cat interrupted me and made her turn around. Tail flicking back and forth, the cat held a piece of glass in one of its giant maws. Its ears folded back and another quiet grunt echoed off the cave walls. It had its paws in a puddle of the green river water. The girl sighed walked over to the cat.

"Don't worry about it, Pounce." She hissed. "I can get more later."

Another grunt and a long hiss echoed. Ears flicked up at me before flattening again. The cat gave me the evil eyes. I glared back.

"I don't know! Just try to be civil."

The glass clattered to the ground as Pounce used both of her mouths to meow.

"It means don't kill him!"

I shifted uncomfortably. Some trolls could learn to communicate with their caretaker at a young age, and only they could understand each other. It wouldn't really make any sense for one to learn to communicate with a lusus that wasn't theirs. It just made me nervous that the word 'kill' was being tossed around. With a final growl, the great cat stalked off to a pile of sugar cubes in the corner of the room.

The olive blood turned back to me and gave a smile that I guess was supposed to be reassuring. "Sorry about that…" she chuckled nervously. "Pounce has always been a little overprotective. Even here."

I cleared my throat and scratched my arm, a nervous habit I always had. "That's… okay. I mean, my lusus was, uh, the same way." I faltered. I was mentally pounding my face into a wall. What a stupid thing to say. Of course my lusus was like that! _All _lusii were like that! Things liked to kill and eat young trolls. I sounded like an idiot.

Her smile broadened slightly. "You… Just scared her. We nefur really get any visitors."

There was another silence. Pounce must have fallen asleep, because contented purrs resonated through the cave. The blood from my previous injuries had finally soaked all the way through my long sleeve and dripped onto the floor of the cave. The girl noticed it for the first time.

"Y-you're hurt!" she exclaimed, sounding slightly flustered. If our eyes were not empty, she would have seen me roll them. "Well, yeah, that wasn't gum berry jam on her claws!" I retorted, glaring at the dark corner where Pounce had disappeared.

A low hiss was input from the corner. Pounce sounded quite proud. The girl didn't answer; she just hurried off and came back with a lot of makeshift bandages. They were mostly animal skins, I noted. She threw them over her shoulder and grabbed my wrist. "C'mon mister…" she stopped and trailed off. "Gee, I nefur asked your name! That was horribly rude of me!" She stuck out her tongue and squeezed her eyes shut, completing her comical look when she placed the palm of her hand over one of her eyes. I couldn't help but snicker at the sight. She giggled and rubbed her eye. "I'm such a scatter purrain, I'm so sorry!"

She kept rambling for a while, while she walked me over to a little cave branching off the main one, hidden by a large orange and white pelt. The little cave had a steady flow of that green water filling up a rather large pool. The entire room steamed and smelled like life. Like grass and rain and something else I couldn't identify. Putting down the skins, she reached for my jacket to take it off. I shrugged away from her. She tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

I pressed my lips into a flat line. "What are you trying to do?

"I'm trying to clean out the horrible wound that Pounce gave you!"

"Do I have to take off my jacket?"

Her brow furrowed and she spoke in a slow, confused manner. "Yes…?" she said, narrowing her eyes. "I can't clean it purroperly if I can't see it correctly."

I pulled my jacket around me tighter. "I don't want to take it off."

She sighed through her nose but didn't say anything. Grabbing up one of the skins, she soaked it in the liquid. Crouching down beside me, she rolled back the collar of my jacket and pressed the skin to one of the punctures. I hissed through tightly clenched teeth. She jumped a little but kept the rag there. After a moment, she re-soaked the rag and blotted the edges of the wound. I eventually got used to the sting, only grunting every so often when the girl was a little too rough. The girl, I mused. I can't call her that forever. I needed to know her name.

"So…" I said, breaking the silence. "Thank you for this, Miss…?"

"Leijon," she muttered as she fished out a piece of gravel from my shoulder. She tossed it into the pool. "You can call me Nepeta."

I nodded. She started placing bandages over the cuts. "Well?" she said expectantly. I blinked. "Hm?"

"Your name?"

Oh. My name. Hm. What _was_ my name? Had I really gone on so long without thinking or hearing it that I might forget it? Not even absent-think panned little wrigglers forget their name. Was I really that far gone?

Yes. I came to the conclusion that yes, I was.

"Who is Karkitty?" I said, trying to change the subject. Her hands stilled for a moment before she answered. "He was just a friend of mine. Just a friend," she sighed. The second part of her answer was a whisper, as if she was talking to herself. Finishing her task, she stood up and headed for the exit. I followed her out.

"So, thanks for everything, but I guess I'll just be going now…"

Nepeta turned around and looked at me. Her eyebrows arched up in shock. "Y- you're leaving so soon?"

I started scratching my arm again. "Well, yeah. Did you expect me to stay?"

She looked down at the floor and bit into her lip. "I guess not, but where will you go?"

Oh. Good one, Leijon. Where _will_ I go? The same place I always had been going I suppose: forward. Through more dream bubbles, to different places. Just keep wandering, totally lost…

As if she could read my thoughts, she continued. "W-whenever I would get lost, Equius always told me to stay in one place…" she sniffled some. Oh god no. No, not tears. No, wait- yep, she was crying. Olive tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "…So maybe I secretly hoped you were l-lost too. So that you could stay here for a while." Tears evacuated her eyes as if someone had opened a floodgate. She shut her eyes and wiped the tears away on the back of her wrist. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed. "You really don't have to stay. It's just that I've been by m-myself for such a long time now, I don't think I can h-handle being left and for-forgotten about again!"

She knelt down and wrapped her arms around her legs in a little ball, hiding her face in her knees. I could hear her breathing hitch as she cried. In the back of my head I heard someone telling me to stay. I had nowhere to go. I didn't even know if I was getting anywhere closer to who I was looking for. Hell, she could have even found someone else and stayed with them like a practical troll being. Yet a louder voice said to leave. I didn't know this girl. She didn't know me. How much good could my presence do to help a life-sick ghost? I had no reason to give her anything else besides a curt thank you and a pat on the head, maybe. I listened to the more reasonable voice.

I turned on my heel and walked out of the cave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Applause for the longest chapter yet!  
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***Applause*  
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**Oh yeah. In case you don't read my other story _Miracles, I_ _Guess_, I had said that I'm looking for beta readers. I really just need some for this story and the other one, but if I decided to write another one-shot then I'll need one or two for that. _If _I ever get around to another one shot, that is. If you're interested, private message me. I don't have any requirements for beta readers, just that you read the story, of course.**

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"I'm sorry!" I sobbed. "You really don't have to stay. It's just that I've been by m-myself for such a long time now, I don't think I can h-handle being left and for-forgotten about again!"

My knees suddenly felt weak. I knelt down and wrapped one arm around my chest, the other around my legs to keep them in place. All the horrible memories I took the time to muffle were back and screaming. There was Gamzee, beating me over the head with that wicked look in his eyes. Equius' dead body next to my own. Equius leaving me after I finally found him… They all came back, one thousand tears each. He was going to leave, and I'll be nothing but another memory.

I was aware of him staring at me. I could feel the pity wash over him. He felt bad for me, but pity wasn't enough to keep him. It never is. The thought made me cry even harder. Even when I was back on Alternia, it was never too bad because I could talk to Terezi and sometimes RP with my friends. Here, I was truly alone. No one wanted to try and message the dead girl, because it never occurred to them that we have computers in the afterlife.

I heard him turn and walk out of the cave, even over my horribly loud sobbing. A fresh wave of tears streamed down my face and dribbled off my chin. They landed on my lap with quiet plops. "W-why would he- he-… Eq-…" My sobs grew louder and echoed off the cave walls. After a while, my crying subsided to just a quiet stream of tears. I sniffled and peeked up. Yep, he was long gone now. Nothing was outside except for more sugar hills and teapots. Gone like Equius that one afternoon. Except, I expected _him_ to leave. I curled back up and just lay there for a while, sobbing into my knees. Eventually, Pounce sprang down from her resting place atop her mountain of sugar cubes and sauntered over to me. She nudged me with one paw and sniffed my hair.

'_Hey,'_ she purred. '_Are you okay now?'_

"Yeah," I muttered. "Perfectly fine."

Pounce drew in a sharp breath. '_You say you're fine yet you pass up a cat pun that easy?'_ She scooped up my head in one paw and draped the other paw around my shoulder. Lying down next to me, she started doing that thing where she started licking the back of my neck, all the while still purring. She only ever does this when she knows I'm very upset, which was now. So she lay next to me, purring words of comfort into my hair.

'_It's okay, Nepeta. I'm still here! I still love you. I would nefur leave you. If you want me to, I can hunt him down and kill him? My claws are aching to kill something!'_ To prove her point, she extended her long claws and licked them. I shook my head.

I rolled over and started crying into her soft chest fur, staining it green. I shut my eyes and tried to forget about everything that had happened. It occurred to me again that I had been forgotten about. More tears wet Pounces' chest as I repeated that horrible word. Forgotten. I swallowed and just buried my face into Pounces' fur. I was okay here with Pounce. She's been here the entire time. She protects, cares for, and loves me now, even when we're both…

I sighed as I started to drift off. Which was weird to me, since I am never regularly fatigued, being dead and all. Maybe all this stress was just too taxing on my ghost body. In fact, I never could recall going to sleep here. The closest thing to sleep here is lapsing to the most minimal level of conciseness, only to be woken up by a loud noise or your own boredom. An actual catnap, if you will. Nevertheless, it is very peaceful and stress relieving.

Pounce suddenly stood up. I yelped as she flipped my up onto her back and carried me to the back of the cave toward my respiteblock. She dropped me onto a pile of skins and lay down in the opposite corner underneath my shipping wall.

"What?" I pouted at her. "I was comfortable!"

Pounce flicked her ears down and then back up. '_I thought that you would have had a more restful sleep in your recupurracoon',_ she mewed. I looked back at my recuperacoon. The red walls of it looked like it was molded from the same rock that made up my cave, which of course it wasn't. Admittedly, I would sleep better in there. Its smooth, rounded walls and refreshing spoor did seem appealing. Sighing, I walked over to Pounce and wrapped my arms around her neck.

"Thanks," I whispered. "You always know how to make me feel better!"

Pounce just purred and licked my forehead. Scurrying back over to my recuperacoon, I quickly stripped myself of my clothing and slid into the slime. It was cool and comforting and it helped me push away all the dark and twisty thoughts. Closing my eyes, I started to drift off.

I was in the state of mind where "you are but you aren't really there" for maybe an hour before I decided that I was rested enough. Jumping out of the pod, I wiped most of the slime off of my body and onto the specialized matt I had. It was designed to catch the excess sopor slime and save it a tank to minimize waste. Very handy tool, I thought. Wringing out my hair, I looked around for a towel. There were none.

Grumbling to myself about how stupid I was for leaving all the clean towels in the storage unit, I slipped on my green jacket and pulled it around my body. Leaving little sopor puddles behind me, I made my way to my storage unit. A cold breeze tumbled down one of the caves extra passages and tossed my hair. I was prepared though, having my jacket on instead of going out naked. _Wise choice, Leijon,_ I thought with a smile as I rounded the corner to the main cave.

Not a whole lot could have prepared me for what happened next.

There I was, naked save my jacket and dripping sopor. There _he_ was, with a pot of tea and a very, very confused look about my almost naked status. We just stood there gawking at each other for a moment. Just like when I first saw him. After my think pan thawed out, I tried to say something, but it ended up as a small squeak. She still heard me though. Pounce was there in two seconds flat, standing in front of me, using her tail to try and cover my womanliness. She opened one of her mouths to roar at him and used the other to talk to me.

'_What the actual fuck!' _Pounce growled. I started to back away, my eyes still locked on his. He took a step forward but was stilled when Pounce swiped at him and growled. '_What did you need, girl?'_ Pounce mewed between hisses. "T-towel…" I managed to spit out. I tugged on the hem of my jacket, willing it to go lower. Pounce stalked off the storage unit. _'I'll go get it. You go back and wait.' _ I nodded though she couldn't see me. She tossed a sideways glance at him before doing a double take and growling, _'what the hell! You keep your eyes to yourself boy!' _He jumped away from Pounce. Swinging her head back to me, Pounce hissed, '_Cover your rumble spheres, Nepeta! Maybe _then_ he'll stop gawking!_ With a final huff, she stalked away. I couldn't help but laugh at her. She was being overly protective for an extra good reason, at least. Shuffling back to my room, I sat and waited for Pounce and a towel.

I removed my jacket to avoid it getting even dirtier and hung it up. A thousand things raced through my mind. I managed to pick out only the important ones. Important ones like: _Why is he here? Didn't he say he was leaving? No, he didn't say- he just left. Why is he back? _My heart raced._ Was I happy he was back? Yes, of course I was. I've been lonely for a long time now. Was he back just because I had pretty much begged him to? Did he want to be here? What horrible luck, him returning when he did. If only some of Vriskers luck-_

My thoughts were cut off when Pounce returned with two fluffy towels. Giving her a scratch on her head, I wiped off the slime and re-clothed myself. Pounces' tail tip flipped up and down disapprovingly. I gave her head another scratch before I went back down to the main cave. I peaked around the corner. He was sitting on the floor of the cave with the teapot in front of him. Taking a deep breath, I turned the corner and gave him a smile. Even with dead eyes, I could still see alarm and panic flicker in the white orbs. _Good to know there's nothing more traumatizing than seeing me naked_, I thought sourly. He stood up when I approached. He cleared his throat and started scratching his arm. Seriously, I'm surprised he still had skin there.

"Sorry about... Well, _that…_" he mumbled. I gave a forced laugh and removed my eyes. We stood there for a minute before he knelt down and picked up the coffee pot. "I saw that you had dropped that green water you like so much when you were fending off your devilbe- lusus, so I thought…" As he spoke, he held out the pot for me to take. I took the pot from him and lifted the lid. The tea was cold after so long but it didn't bother me much. Cold tea was just as delicious with lemon. I placed it on the table and sat down. He lingered for a moment before he sat down across from me.

More silence. Deciding that something was better than nothing, I stood and headed for the storage place. He made to follow me, but I put up my hand. "You can stay here," you told him. "I'll be right back." He nodded and sat down. "Don't worry," I added jokingly, "Pounce won't eat you. She doesn't like the taste of nubby horns." Turning, I exited before he could say anything.

Making my way to the storage unit, I glanced around the shelves until I found the pretty teacups I had salvaged from my many LOLCAT adventures. Finding two cups with the matching saucers, I pawed around in the back of a box for a lemon. After successfully fining one, I placed it in my teacup and headed back out to the main cave.

He was where he was when I left him, meaning Pounce hadn't snuck around and hassled him any. He sort of jumped when I got near him, like I had pulled him out of his train of thought. Or Pounce had just traumatized him for life, that silly kitty. Filling up the cups, I picked up three sugar cubes from the table and plopped them into my tea. Picking up the lemon, I gave it a little squeeze. "Would you like a wedge of lemon?" I asked. He looked at the lemon for a moment. "How are you going to-" Before he could finish his question, I tossed the lemon into the air and _one! Two!_ The lemon landed on the table, cut into wedges. With my non-clawed up hand, I squeezed the juice into my tea. Skewering a wedge onto my claw, I held it out for him to take. Even with our dark ashen skin, I could see him pale. He took the offered fruit and just dropped it in the cup. I slid my claws back into place and sipped my tea. The citrus tang on my palate calmed me.

He finally broke from his trance. Picking up his cup, he took a mouthful of the drink and swallowed noisily. I flicked my eyes up at him to get a better look at him. He had very short, nubby horns and messy hair like your remember Karkats' being. He also had a small, silvery-red scar above his left eyebrow. I guess that his eyes must have been red prior to arriving here. He glances at me and my eyes flick back down. He decides to break the silence.

"Thanks for everything…" he mumbled. I glance back up at him.

"It's always nice to have visitors," I murmured. What I really mean is, why are you back?

He nodded and scooted the teacup forward. "I'm not really the real guy," he begins. This piques my interest. What does he mean 'not really the real guy'? If he means he's not Karkat, then we've already been over this. I lifted my head to look at him in the eye. He chuckled a little nervously and scratched his arm lightly. "What I mean is, I'm from a doomed timeline. A little more doomed than the actual timeline was doomed. I guess I kind of always knew I was in for it. So my death wasn't a huge deal to me." He drank more of the tea before continuing. "I was content with my death. It never really bothered me that I had died. So I guess that is the reason why I couldn't… Empathize at first. But I can understand the feeling of being forgotten."

I looked down at my tea again. The pale green liquid sloshed around as I swirled the cup. Did he know that I was a product of another unsuccessful timeline? I guess I was screwed either way, even if my timeline was the "cannon" timeline, as Rose might have put it. There were other Nepetas I had met. One was god tier. I slipped my hand across the table so that my knuckles brushed his. I smiled. Clearing my throat, I stood up and pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"Well," I said, dusting off the table, "if you… _are_ going to stay here, then I guess I should show you to your respiteblock."

He stood and followed me. I had the route mapped out in my head. Out of the main, down the north passage, left, right, left, left, and fourth pelt to the right. Most of the passages here were part of the planet already. I guess there are a whole bunch of tunnels all underneath the planet that the underlings used to live in before they all disappeared from the tunnels. I don't know why the left the tunnels. Maybe they found the surface more hospitable than a bunch of tunnels, or perhaps they were never in the tunnels to begin with. Either way, it made exploring easier. I smiled fondly at the memories of first discovering the caves when Pounce miscalculated a jump and rammed her head into the thin wall. Poor kitty, she had a bump on her head for weeks. The wall, however, crumbled and revealed the entrance to the north tunnel. I had been so excited; I immediately dragged Equius down into the darkness for exploration.

"C'mon, Equius!" I giggled, pouncing at a shadow. He followed me calmly down into the dark. His eyes glowed faintly behind his shades. Having excellent night vision, we didn't need a torch of any sort. The tunnel branched off in many places, some into smaller caves, others into passages even I haven't explored yet! At the very end of the dark and twisting tunnel was another entrance to my hive. After getting rid of some debris and dirt, we carried a bunch of pelts here and made up some of the rooms nicely. I guess I didn't really expect to have anyone stay with me besides Equius, but it was good to have something to work on. One can only hunt underlings on the surface and look for teapots for so long before getting bored.

I stopped at the blue and white pelt. Pushing it aside, I gestured to the entrance. "This can be your own respiteblock while you're here."

He cleared his throat and ducked inside. This was my favorite guest block by far. The floor was covered with soft and colorful furs, while the walls were painted gray with ash. In one of the corners was my old computer. I had left it in here when I switched to the drawing tablet type computer. It was just so much nicer to use. Before Equius disappeared, he even helped me move a giant teacup and my guest recuperacoon into this room. Being of middle-class blood, I'm kinda proud I could afford stuff for a guest cave. I filled the teacup with pelts. It was fun to lie around in. I had one in my room too, except Pounce was always in it when I wanted to lie in it.

He sat down in the teacup and rolled around for a little bit to get comfortable. Finding a good spot, he tossed a blue pelt over his feet and pulling another over his head. I hesitated in the doorway. He unburied his head and looked up at me.

"Th…Thanks," he finally said. "For everything."

I smiled and pulled at the loose strings on my gloves. "If… _If _you are going to stay here… I mean you seem pretty adamant about hiding your name, but… I have to call you something..."

He looked down and bit his lip. "Who was it you mistook me for? Kar…"

"You want me to call you Karkat?" I squeaked. He looked back up at me again before hiding his head again. "Call me whatever you want," he said, voice slightly muffled. I smiled and pushed aside the pelt covering the door.

"I'll see you later then…Karkitty."

With that, I turned and left.


	4. Chapter 4

**So then I was all, "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT'S CANNON RIGHT NOW! IT'S MY STORY! I'LL WRITE IT HOW I WANT TO! FUCK CANNON! THESE CHARACTERS ARE FUCKING PRETEND AS SHIT! JUST PRETEND THESE CHARACTERS REALLY ARE DIFFERENT! NOT KANKRI! NOT MEULIN! NOPE! NOPE NO NOPE NO NOPE! " And then I decided to wrap up this story.**

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The time I spent with Nepeta was definitely the best time I've had living or in the dream bubbles. She taught me how to brew the best pots of chamomile tea, even if I really sucked at first. We've played games of hide and seek on the surface when the underlings aren't around, and she even taught me to hunt with a well-worn pair of claw gloves she had.

"You want me to kill _that?" _ I whispered, staring wide eyed at the basilisk milling around by the river. The fearsome thing was crawling on the bank, every now and then flicking out its pale tongue.

"It's not so difurcult!" Nepeta encouraged, pushing me with her elbow. "Hop on down there and double slice its eyes then get on its back and strike at the neck! Now hurry before it smells you!" Giving me a rough shove, she sent me tumbling horns over heels down the sugar slope. When I flopped to a halt at the foot of the hill, I lay there to make sure it hadn't seen me.

It had. Narrowing its eyes, it flicked his tongue at me, lashing my face with the disgusting muscle. Behind me, I could hear Nepeta hissing, "Claws, draw your claws!"

Quickly flicking my wrists downward, the claws slide out and clicked in place. The basilisk hissed and lunged. I stepped to my left and neatly dodged it, flicking out my right hand to score the beast on its side. Roaring in pain and rage, it swung its great tail and tossed me in the river. I flailed my arms and struggled to stand up. The basilisk pounced again, landing in the river next to me. I could hear Nepeta screech from the top of the hill. Regaining my footing, I bore my teeth and hissed. If the creature in front of me didn't want to spill m blood, I would have laughed from how like Nepeta that gesture was.

The basilisk swatted me with his tail again and scooped me up in its mouth. Locking my elbows, the claws sliced straight through its head. The ugly thing hissed once more before succumbing to death.

Climbing out of the riverbed, I took off my jacket and started to wring out the green tea. Something promptly hit me square in the chest and knocked me back into the river. Wrapping her arms around my chest, Nepeta began to yell incoherent things. When she calmed down a little, I could understand her.

"That was awesome!" she purred. "I was really worried that you were dead fur a minute there! But you did it! You did it _and_ you were in the river! You are the ultimate hunter!" We both started laughing about it. Things got a little weird when she realized she was lying directly on top of me. She probably giggled and said something about getting dried off and back into the cave for some cameowmile, but all I could her was my vascular pump in my ears. I nodded stupidly as she climbed off of me. She extended her hand and offered to help me up. Together, we walked back home.

I once thought about who and what had drawn me to Nepeta. I would sometimes let my subconscious take over and I would dream about her. The one I was looking for. She was my everything back when there was time to be around her. I would sometimes think about what would happen if things had happened different. If she had loved me back and if I was with her now, would Nepeta still be alone? Would someone else have found her and stayed with her too? Usually, though, before I can get too deep into thought, Nepeta will rouse me up and tell me that she and Pounce collectively thought up a bunch of unbaked sweet biscuits and are willing to share if I get out of the pelt pile. I never think about her anymore.

Our lives went on like that for a while. Our hunts would become more in sync, my tea brewing got better, and Pounce came to tolerate me more. Seriously. She sometimes even lets me pet her with minimal growling. Nepeta calls it "the beginning of a beautiful meowrailegence."

So everything was regular until we went hunting on what Nepeta said was the night marking the fact that I had been living with Pounce and herself for a sweep. To commemorate such an event, we went on a special trip to hunt some of the most fearsome underlings Nepeta could think up.

The trip was successful, with two ogres killed apiece. When we got back to the cave, I told Nepeta what was on my mind, and what I had been thinking about for a long time.

"Nepeta," I said, pulling pelts into a more organized pile for Pounce. "Can I ask you about something?"

Nepeta looked up from cleaning her saucers to answer me. "What's on your mind?"

Pounce gave me a nudge before curling up on her pile to rest. I smiled and stroked one of her paws. She growled but made no move.

"Have you ever… Being the master shipper that you are… Gone red for someone- like, hopelessly red- even if they couldn't love you back?"

Nepeta paused for a moment before resuming stacking her saucers in organized piles. "Yes," she sighed. "There is this one troll I know who I feel that way for, but he is very red for another troll. He could never return my feelings."

I nodded and busied myself by cleaning and stacking the teacups we had found. "How do you tell them how you feel, but you don't want to ruin a friendship?"

She put down her saucer and turned to look at me. "Sure there is!" she said, smiling. "First, you get them so you're standing right in front of them." She scooted me back and squared her shoulders off to mine. "Then, you have to do something with your hands, so you could try… I don't know… Try holding them?" She slowly cupped her hands underneath mine and only gripped my knuckles. Letting them fall to our waists, she looked up into my eyes. I could faintly see olive pools outlined with yellow flash behind her dead white eyes, as if I was wafting between two memories. "Then look them in the eye and say something like, 'Kankitty, I have red feelings for you, but I know you're red for another troll, and I'm okay with that. I don't want our friendship to go to ruins because of this." I could see her eyes very clearly now. They were olive and filled with sadness and Gog damn if they weren't the prettiest eyes I've ever seen.

She gave me a small smile and moved away, her eyes slowly clouding over again until they were white. I held on to her hands and squeezed her fingers. She looked up at me again. "What if…" I said, swallowing dryly. "What if that's not the case?"

She smiled again, wider this time. "You say something like, 'I want to make this work.'" I nodded and cleared my throat. Standing up a little bit taller, I looked into her eyes, as instructed. "Nepeta," I said, smiling. "I want to make this work."

I don't think the tackle was necessary, but I took it as a yes.

* * *

**Actually sectioning up this one mega chapter so I can edit the content a little more.**


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